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Thursday, 28 March 2024

Who will Joe Biden pick as running mate?

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Who will Joe Biden pick as running mate?
Who will Joe Biden pick as running mate?

Here are some of the nearly dozen candidates who are likely under consideration, as former Vice President Joe Biden faces fresh calls to choose a black woman as his running mate.

Lisa Bernhard reports.

U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to choose a woman as his running mate.

And there are fresh calls for him to name to a black candidate, as protests against racial injustice sweep the U.S. and the world.

Here are some of the top names in the mix.

For Senator Kamala Harris, it could be the next best thing after dropping out of the presidential race herself.

She eventually endorsed Biden but irked some in his camp when she criticized Biden in a primary debate on NBC for his past opposition to school busing.

The daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris could win over black voters, a crucial part of the Democratic base.

Another contender, Amy Klobuchar, could have the opposite effect, some black leaders say.

The 60-year-old senator is a white moderate and previously served as the top prosecutor for Minnesota, but her record on police misconduct could weigh against her.

The officer charged with killing George Floyd was involved in a fatal shooting in 2006.

A decision was taken not to charge Derek Chauvin on that occasion.

It happened while Klobuchar was county attorney, although she took no part in the case.

But Klobuchar could help Biden appeal to moderate and working-class white voters in potential Midwestern battlegrounds like her home state.

"I have won in the reddest of red congressional districts and with some ease.

And I've done it by going not just where it's comfortable, but where it's uncomfortable." Another prospect is Atlanta Major Keisha Lance Bottoms. Biden praised her leadership during the unrest that swept Georgia and she was also one of Biden’s strongest backers, having endorsed him early in the primary in June of 2019.

In contrast, U.S. Representative Val Demings of Florida only endorsed Biden in March this year.

But she’s still touted as high on the short list.

Demings has a lower national profile, but she helped manage the House impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

Elected in 2016 as a congresswoman in Florida, another key election battleground, she previously served as the first female police chief in Orlando.

Other notable contenders for vice president include Senator Elizabeth Warren, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. The vetting process is underway and expected to wrap up by July - as the larger fight looms for the November 3rd election.

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